The removal of seats from wheelchairs is often necessary for the breakdown of the wheelchair for storage or transportation, for cleaning of the wheelchair seat and other portions of the wheelchair, or for replacement of the currently used wheelchair seat with a different wheelchair seat. The use of traditional bolts, screws or nuts to attach the wheelchair seat to the wheelchair does not provide quick, convenient release. Instead, tools are often required to loosen these attachment mechanisms; and wheelchair-bound individuals often suffer from health problems which have compromised their strength and movement ability, thus making the removal of these attachment devices even more difficult. Furthermore, the above prior art attachment devices have exposed, sharp ends, edges and corners which can injure, or at least render uncomfortable, the wheelchair user.
A need thus exists for a locking spring-biased latch for a wheelchair which securely holds the wheelchair seat on the wheelchair frame with a catch arm configured in a first position.
A need exists for the above type of locking spring-biased latch in which the catch arm is conveniently configured in a second position by the depression of a release lever to allow unlocking and removal of the wheelchair seat from the wheelchair.
A need further exists for the above type of locking spring-biased latch in which the wheelchair seat is again attached to the wheelchair by the application of downward force onto a catch arm that braces the wheelchair seat against the frame of the wheelchair.
A further need exists for the above type of locking spring-biased latch that has a low profile lacking sharp protrusions when the catch arm braces the wheelchair seat against the frame of the wheelchair.